


up, up and away (I'll take you with me)

by rippedgloves



Category: Doctor Who, One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-04
Updated: 2013-01-04
Packaged: 2017-11-23 16:23:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,874
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/624166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rippedgloves/pseuds/rippedgloves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Louis is a Time Lord with a certain fixation with a certain boy. A Doctor Who AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	up, up and away (I'll take you with me)

**Author's Note:**

> first time posting to ao3. feedback is greatly appreciated :)

The day of his eighteenth birthday Harry’s so excited he wakes up too early and, when he looks out the window, he’s disappointed not to find anything.

He goes back to sleep and oversleeps, and when he wakes up again he finds Louis standing at the end of his bed with a goofy smile on.

 

***

 

The first time Harry meets Louis he is thirteen, and he’s at a Christmas party with his parents. Louis appears out of nowhere, running into the kitchen where Harry is hiding followed by a tall brunette.

“Why hello there,” Louis says after spotting him, “Mind if we borrow these?”

He is wearing a striped shirt and pants too big held up by black braces, and it has to be the stupidest look Harry has ever seen on anyone, but it somehow fits him, and Harry can’t help the grin that spreads on his face as he sees him hold up an egg beater.

Harry barely has time to shake his head before the two are out of sight.

 

***

 

The second time comes right after his fifteenth birthday, and this time Harry is walking back from a party, slightly buzzed, when he stumbles into a wooden police box out of nowhere.

“Harry, is that you?” a voice asks from behind him, and when Harry turns around he finds Louis smiling down at him.

“How do you know my name?” Harry asks, “Do I know you?”

“It’s a long story, you’ll tell me later, told me before, you know how it is,” Louis laughs, “I’m Louis, by the way, in case you were wondering. And I’m sorry I can’t stay to chat, but I lost my friend and need to find her.”

He runs down the street and out of view so fast that by the time Harry gets home he isn’t sure if he imagined the entire thing or not.

 

***

 

“So what’s your name?” Louis asks, appearing in front of Harry out of nowhere as he’s walking home from school, about five months after their last encounter.

“You know my name,” Harry laughs, shaking his head, “What are you doing here?”

“Just dropped by to say hello,” Louis says, “But really, what’s your name?”

“Harry, but you know that already,” Harry frowns, “Or do you mean my surname? That’s Styles, if that’s what you mean.”

“I know that already? Have we met?”

“Sort of,” Harry says.

“Oh.”

Louis walks with him in silence half of the way home before he exclaims that he needs to go and runs away in the opposite direction, yelling “I’ll see you soon!”

 

***

 

Soon comes the morning of Harry’s sixteenth birthday. When Harry looks out of the window after he wakes up he finds a familiar looking blue box and an even more familiar face smiling at him. He runs downstairs and outside still in his pajamas, too excited to pay attention to Gemma calling him from the kitchen.

“Hey,” he says when he reaches the box, shivering a little in February’s weather, “What are you doing here? How did you find my house?”

“You see, there aren’t many people by the name of Harry Styles in Holmes Chapel, it was fairly easy,” Louis smiles, “And I just stopped to say hi.”

His mom interrupts just as Harry opens his mouth to talk, yelling something about birthday breakfast and “tell your friend to join us if he wants to,” and Harry can’t help the dark shade of red that spreads over his cheeks.

“Oh, no, I’ve crashed on your birthday? I’m so sorry, that’s so rude of me,” Louis says, walking away from Harry.

“It’s alright, hey, I don’t mind.”

“No, I better go; I’ll come back later, when you’re not as busy, sorry!”

  
  
***

  
  
Louis doesn’t recognize him the following time, which Harry finds hilarious at first after they he says hi at the train station and Louis looks at him puzzled.

“Hey, hello? Louis, remember me?” He tries again, his brow furrowed, expecting the older boy to break into a smile or say something, but Louis just stares at him.

It’s only been three weeks since Harry’s birthday, since Louis showed up at his house out of nowhere, so it makes no sense to Harry that Louis doesn’t remember him, but the look of confusion in his face looks genuine enough that it makes Harry feel bad. He mutters an apology an walks away, growing more confused about Louis than he was before.

 

***

 

The day he wakes up and finds the blue box in the middle of his room he thinks he’s going into cardiac arrest, the way his heartbeat shoots up. It takes him a moment to process what’s going on in his sleepy state, and that’s just when the door of the blue box opens and Louis walks out.

“Harry, hey, how is it going,” he asks, plopping down on his bed.

“You know, it’s not that I have anything against you or anything, but why do you keep showing up out of nowhere?”

“I’m checking in on you! You know how it works.”

“No, I don’t!” claims Harry, “I barely know your name, and that you like to drag that blue box around with you.”

“It’s not a blue box, that’s the TARDIS, thank you very much, she has feelings,” Louis says, somewhat offended, but sighs before continuing, “I guess I have a lot to tell you, don’t I?”

Harry sits, and Louis talks, and somehow he doesn’t laugh once, not when Louis says he is a time traveler –a Time Lord, he says—or when he says the blue box is a time machine, or even when Louis says he’s almost a thousand years old. He listens closely, barely even breathing, his eyes widening like crazy while he hears about Louis.

“Doctor, are you ready, it’s time to go!” A voice says out of nowhere, and Harry realizes that the door of the blue box –TARDIS—has opened, and the same brunette girl from years earlier.

“Sorry, Harry, we’ll have to continue this another time, I’m expected for tea time in a different galaxy. I’ll stop by soon. Let’s go, El.”

Harry chokes on his own spit when the blue box makes a screeching noise and disappears in front of his eyes.

 

***

 

After that it becomes a habit. Louis stops by his house or at school or just pops up next to him while he’s walking home after class. He doesn’t follow a pattern or a schedule or anything, but Harry finds that he shows up more and more often as the days pass, and he stays longer each time

He doesn’t always bring Eleanor which, Harry must admit he likes. Not that he minds her, she’s nice and all, but it’s good to be alone with Louis sometimes, talk about more personal things. Plus, Eleanor already knows everything there is to know about Louis, or so it seems, and Harry is sick of seeing her roll her eyes or smirk whenever he has a question.

“Why does she call you Doctor?” He asks one day, as the three of them gather around his kitchen table, having tea.

“That’s a good question. It’s been hundreds and hundreds of years and I still have not figured it out. Sorta fits me, doesn’t it?” Louis says, smiling wide at Harry.

“Should I call you Doctor, too?”

“Nah, you call me Louis, I like that.”

Harry tries not to smile when he spots Eleanor glaring at him out of the corner of his eye.

 

***

 

“Do you just not age?” He asks another time, and this time they’re alone, standing by the fence at Harry’s house.

“I, in fact, do not,” Louis says, but he’s not smiling cockily, like he does when he talks about the other perks of being a Time Lord.

“Are you—Are you immortal?”

When Louis explains about the regeneration, Harry notices the sad expression in his eyes, which he’s pretty sure he’s never seen before, and he slides an arm around Louis without thinking about it, pressing himself against his side, and resting his head on Louis’ shoulder. Then Louis says this is his last one, technically; says that he doesn’t know if he wants to come back after his thirteenth death, the honesty of his words making Harry shiver.

  
  
***

  
  
The day Louis gives him the TARDIS phone number Harry chokes on his own spit. Louis asks for his phone as well and does something with that sonic screwdriver of his, the light making the entire room purple for a second.

“I can’t really call you,” Louis explains, and he looks relatively confused about it, “Or maybe I can, I’m not sure how that thing works.”

He stops, frowning, like he’s trying to figure out something in his head, and then continues, “But you can call me! If you need anything or the world’s in mortal danger. Stuff like that.”

He flashes Harry his widest smile, the one that Harry has yet to see him give someone else, and it makes his insides burn with something Harry’s  pretty sure he has never felt before.

 

***

 

“Why do you care about him so much?” Harry hears Eleanor say one night when he’s walking back to his room after brushing his teeth.

He had heard the traditional noise the TARDIS always made before landing while he was there, and had to force himself not to run down the hall and into his room to say hello to Louis as fast as possible.

“What do you mean? He’s my friend, of course I care about him!”

“But why do we come here so often? We could be travelling the universe!”

Eleanor’s tone is exasperated, which Harry has never heard her before. He’s known from the start that she doesn’t exactly like him, but it’s not like she’s ever shown it, and she’s always been a sweetheart in front of Louis, so Harry is rather surprised by it.

“We are travelling the universe,” Louis replies, matter-of-factly, “This is a part of the universe, my darling Eleanor.”

“You know what I mean,” She mutters, “We are always here. We spend more time with that kid than we do on space. It’s annoying.”

“He’s my friend, I always visit my friends,” Louis replies calmly, though Harry notices an edge to his voice, “Would you rather he travelled with us? So we didn’t have to stop as often?”

“No.”

 

***

 

“I got you a birthday present!” is the first thing Harry hears when he wakes up, a month before his seventeenth birthday, and Louis is standing by his bed.

“A birthday present?” Harry asks, rubbing his eyes and trying to get used to the dark. The clock by his bedside table is blinking 5:05, and he can’t help groaning and rolling over, closing his eyes again.

“Yes, you know, for showing up at your birthday party, unannounced, uninvited and with no present; this time at least I have a present.”

“That was almost a year ago, Lou,” Harry chuckles, sitting up in bed.

“Was it? Oh damn, I need to start fixing my coordinates before I head off,” Louis says with a laugh, rubbing his forehead, “Well, I might as well give it to you know, a new birthday should be coming soon, is that right?”

Harry nods, not being able to help the grin that spreads over his face, and when he opens the package he finds a rock; a very pretty rock, if Harry is honest, all soft edges and bigger than the palm of his hand, and the whitest white he has ever seen, but a rock, nonetheless.

“It’s not just a rock,” Louis explains when Harry starts examining it, “It’s actually a part of the Medusa Cascade, which we can never go back to, now, and it’s not a rock, it’s a soul.”

“A soul?” Harry asks, disbelieving.

“Or that’s what the legend says, anyway. But as old as I am, I’ve always been inclined to believing those. I am one, after all.”

Harry is about to say something, ask about Louis being a legend or about the Medusa Cascade, but the rock suddenly lights up in his hand, a faint halo of light surrounding the bed.

“See?” Louis smiles, “Looks like it likes you.”

 

***

***

 

He comes back wounded, once. Or, well, not wounded, because he isn’t showing any injuries, but he’s drenched in blood and his eyes are unfocused and he keeps shaking his head and muttering things Harry can’t hear.

Eleanor is not in the TARDIS –Harry doesn’t dare going in, doesn’t know if he’s allowed to, but he opens the door and calls for Eleanor without really looking inside, and receives no answer. He doesn’t really know what to do, so he just takes Louis inside and makes him a cup of tea, hoping with all his heart that Gemma doesn’t come out of her bedroom.

Louis is fine, despite his eerie appearance, and in no time he’s joking around with Harry and asking him about school like nothing’s happened. Harry wants to ask, is dying to know what happened to him, and if he’s really okay, but he doesn’t know if he’s really allowed to ask.

He talks about himself, instead, tells Louis about the band he’s in, with some lads he met at college, and how they are all pretty decent singers but play no instruments, which makes song writing rather hard. Louis asks to hear him sing, and Harry bites his lips before grinning and launching into a Stevie Wonder song.

Louis doesn’t say anything after that, but he doesn’t need to, and but his smile and the way his eyes are shining is enough to make Harry’s heart swell up in his chest.

 

***

 

There is another time when Louis stops by and they’re having band practice at his house, which is rare, and Harry doesn’t see him until he’s done with his solo, finding his eyes when he looks up.

Louis doesn’t seem a bit bothered by the presence of Harry’s friends. He introduces himself as he finds a place to sit close to Josh’s drum set, and waits for them to finish practicing before speaking again.

He gets along great with Zayn, which isn’t surprising at all, and Niall stares at him in awe and follows him around the room, listening to everything he says. Harry sits back and watches them, being as evasive as possible when Liam asks about how they met. He mentions something about running into each other a couple of times.

“It’s not running into each other if you’re trying,” Louis interrupts, plopping down on the sofa next to Harry, “It took me days to find you! And I kept getting the timing wrong, it was awful.”

“What do you mean?” Liam asks, shifting closer to them to listen more clearly.

“I kept messing up the coordinates; I missed his birthday and even showed up when he was eleven once. It took a while before the TARDIS remembered the way.”

“What are you talking about?” Niall asks, suddenly interested.

“I’m a Time Lord,” Louis explains, looking rather confused, then turns towards Harry, “Didn’t you tell them about me?”

“You, um— you never really said I could? So I wasn’t exactly sure if it was alright for me to like, tell others,” Harry shrugs.

He doubles over with laughter when he sees Niall’s face after Louis explains what a time lord is, and has to muffle his giggles with his jumper sleeve as he hears Zayn’s and Josh’s questions about time travelling. Liam seems to be taking it all in and hasn’t opened his mouth once after his first question, but keeps looking from Harry to Louis and frowning.

“Has Harry traveled with you?” He asks suddenly.

“Not yet, no,” Louis answers hesitantly, “But he will, soon.”

“I will?”

“He will?”

“For your eighteenth birthday,” he explains, grinning at Harry, “I’m taking you on a trip anywhere you want.”

No words come out of his mouth when Harry tries to answer, so he just throws himself at Louis and wraps himself around him as hard as he can, whispering a soft thank you into his ear.

 

***

 

The week before Harry’s eighteenth birthday Louis stops by almost every day. He doesn’t say it, but Harry suspects it’s because he’s worried he’ll miss the date. Eleanor comes every time, which isn’t to say annoying but doesn’t exactly bring a smile to Harry’s face, either.

Zayn is there a couple of times, which helps ease up the tension generated by Eleanor, and he and Louis make prank calls and play video games and it’s really hard for Harry to remember that this man has lived fifty times longer than him.

“Have you ever gotten drunk?” He asks out of nowhere, while they’re sitting around the TV.

Eleanor scoffs, then gives Harry one of her fakest smiles and answers, “He’s over a thousand years old; of course he’s gotten drunk before.”

Louis simply laughs, doesn’t answer Harry’s question directly, and instead focuses his attention on beating Zayn at Mario Kart.

That day, before he leaves, he hugs Harry for a little bit longer and whispers, “Maybe we could get some champagne. For your birthday, that is.”

Harry plants a kiss on Louis’ cheek before he even has time to think about it, and he automatically tenses and starts to pull back, but Louis brings him back in and hugs him one last time, much to Eleanor’s annoyance.

 

***

 

Two nights before his birthday he goes out with Niall and Josh and ends up getting way drunker -than he expected.

He spends the entire time at the bar trying to talk to a lad in a striped shirt, but he gets the wrong impression somehow and shoves Harry back, getting them both kicked out.

It’s not like he plans it but it just sort of happens while he’s walking back home. He’s drunk and tired and not really thinking and he finds Louis’ number while he’s scrolling down his contacts, and before he knows it he’s calling.

“’Lo?”

“Oh, hey, what’s up?” Harry is almost legitimately surprised that Louis does actually pick up.

“Harry, is that you? Are you alright?”

“Yeah, no, everything’s fine I just—I wanted to talk to you?” Harry bites his lip, already regretting his decision, “Is this like—is this alright? That I called you?”

“Yes, yes, of course. What time is it there? Wait, no, I don’t need you to tell me.”

Louis hangs up right after that, leaving a very confused Harry on the other side of the line, but it takes less than a minute before he hears the characteristic wheezing noise and the TARDIS appears in front of his eyes.

“What are you doing here?” He asks when Louis opens the door and pops his head out.

“Figured it’s always better to talk in person, isn’t it?” Louis laughs, “What are you waiting for? Come in! I’ll bring you home.”

Walking inside the TARDIS for the first time feels kind of surreal, makes his head a bit cloudy, and Harry can’t be sure if it’s the alcohol in him or if he’s getting overwhelmed just by this.

Louis shoots him a smug smile as Harry looks around in awe. He chuckles when Harry says ‘bigger on the inside’, then simply follows him around as he explores the central area.

“Do you want a tour?” Louis offers when Harry stops at the start of one of the hallways.

“Maybe later? I sorta just wanted to see you,” He stumbles the words out, making Louis laugh loudly at him.

“Are you drunk? Your cheeks are rather red, and you never blush,” He says, examining Harry closely, “Was I your drunk dial?”

“How do you even know what a drunk dial is? You’re an alien.”

“Oi, watch it. Aliens can party too.”

Harry chokes on his own laughter, doubling over, and Louis has to reach out an arm to help him from falling.

He lets Louis hold him up, doesn’t even notice when he starts being dragged around, not registering anything but the way Louis’ hand burns against his hip. The last thing he notices before he dozes off is the softness of a mattress against his back and the warm press of lips against his temple.

 

***

 

“So are you ready?” is the first thing Louis says when Harry pops an eye open, “Happy birthday, by the way. Ready to go?”

He gets up so fast his sight goes black for a second and he loses his balance, bumping against Louis and almost knocking him to the floor as he tries to hug him.

“Do I need anything?” He asks excitedly when they break apart, “Where are we going? Should I bring a jumper? Will it be cold?”

“Bring a jumper just in case,” Louis answers, “But I’m not telling you where we’re going. It’s a surprise.”

He walks over to the other side of the room and only then does Harry notice the big blue box taking up most of the space in his room.

“Shall we go?”

Louis opens the TARDIS door and bows down, gesturing for Harry to walk in, and it takes the boy a moment before his brain catches up and he makes his way inside.

It’s different than the first time he went in, probably because he doesn’t really remember that at all, having woken up in his bed with a hangover and very vague memories of a phone call—but it’s still overwhelming.

It’s bigger than the blurry version Harry had in his head, and more impressive, and Harry can’t stop looking around, trying to take everything in.

“Where’s Eleanor?” He asks after a little bit, trying to keep a smile on as he does.

“Oh, it’s just the two of us today, how do you like that?”

Harry’s grin spreads so wide over his face that the pull on his cheeks almost hurts, and the way Louis smiles back at him makes his heart skip a beat.

“Are you seriously not telling me where we’re going?”

“Nope,” Louis replies happily, pressing one of the buttons on what looks like a control panel to Harry, “Hold on tight.”

He types in some things and pulls a couple of levers and Harry can’t stop himself from tightening his grip on the railing he’s pressed against when he hears the distinct wheezing noise begin.

 Cold pulls in his stomach for a moment as there’s a jolt and he’s thrown to the left.

“Told you—to hold on tight,” Louis says as he moves around, focused on the board in front of him.

Harry’s prepared for the second jolt, and it barely moves him, and by the third one the discomfort setting in his chest is gone.

His eyes don’t leave Louis the entire time they’re  _travelling_ —Harry’s not sure what the actual term for it is, and suddenly the movement ceases and Louis eyes find his and he finds himself smiling even wider than before.

“Where are we? Are we even dressed appropriately for whatever time or place we’re at?” Harry asks when Louis heads for the door.

“Probably not, but that’s never been an issue before,” He answers, and something in his tone makes Harry suspect he’s lying.

There’s a soft thug at his heart the moment he steps out of the TARDIS into Time’s Square. His eyes widen out of proportion –he can hear Louis snickering next to him—and he can’t stop the way his eyes dart in every direction, trying to take in as much as he can.

He can’t tell what moment in time it is, only that it’s the past (his past) and probably somewhere between the 50s and the 80s. He’s never been too good with history anyway, and to be honest he’s quite proud of himself for being able to narrow it down to that period of time.

“I know you probably want to walk around but we have somewhere to be and I messed up the time so we need to rush,” Louis says, tugging on Harry’s sleeve to urge him to walk.

They walk down an avenue and Harry tries to stop to glance at a newspaper or a sign to figure out the date, but Louis is almost running down the street and dragging him by the wrist to follow his rhythm.

He gasps the moment he spots the sign, taking a step back. He raises a hand to his mouth and does a double and then a triple take, wanting to make sure he’s not imagining the giant picture of Elvis hanging from the building in front of him.

“Louis,” He says, and his voice comes out an octave higher than he intended, “Tell me you didn’t.”

Louis doesn’t reply, just smiles and pulls Harry a bit closer, walking towards the entrance. He barely waves a small white paper in front of the guards and they are let into the building. Harry can feel his blood boiling from the excitement, can’t tell if the warmth spreading around his limbs is due to the warm summer weather or if it’s just delight.

They walk in just as Proud Mary is ending, and they use the time between songs to find a spot with a good view.

Harry lets himself go.

He dances around a bit, but mostly just stands, bobbing his head to the music and trying to soak himself in it.

He doesn’t want to take his eyes off Elvis as he walks and dances around in his white bell-bottoms and his open shirt, but he can’t help the way his eyes keep drifting to his side, where Louis is leaning against a wall, paying way more attention to Harry than he is to Elvis.

Louis moves closer to him as the set continues, leaning against him and brushing his lips against Harry’s ear to sing along to The Impossible Dream, and chuckling when Funny How Time Slips Away starts.

Harry convinces himself it is just a coincidence when Louis’ hand slides around his waist and pulls him closer during I Can’t Help Falling In Love With You, and doesn’t let himself think about it too much. He knows the show is about to end –he’s seen the DVD countless times—and he forces himself to focus on the last two songs, ignoring the way Louis’ touch burns through his top.

He’s buzzing with adrenaline when they leave Madison Square Garden, the cool summer breeze making him shiver.

“That was amazing,” He says as he slings an arm around Louis’ neck, letting the older boy –man—drag him through the city streets, “I’d never even been to New York. Thank you.”

They get back in the TARDIS and Harry can’t stop smiling, but there’s a sinking feeling in his chest as the realization that his trip is over hits him. He sighs defeated as Louis starts pulling handles and typing in his little keyboard again, and braces himself for the first jerk of the ship before it comes, holding on tight and trying to burn every moment of it into his memory.

“Are you ready for the second surprise?” Louis asks as he heads for the door.

Harry doesn’t have time to say anything before the TARDIS door opens and he finds himself staring into space.

“This is the Dragon Nebula,” Louis explains as he moves to fit himself against Harry’s back, resting his head on Harry’s shoulder as Harry watches, mesmerized, “It’s a part of the Mutter’s Spiral, which is in the Milky Way.”

“Sort of looks like a lobster, not a dragon,” Harry notes, his eyes still focused on the view.

“I wonder what you’ll think of the Crab Galaxy, then,” Louis laughs, his breath tickling Harry’s ear.

The first shooting star catches Harry’s eye, and he makes a wish unconsciously, out of habit, ignoring the way his cheeks burn and how aware he suddenly is of Louis pressed against him.  He stops making wishes after the twelfth one, when he realizes they’re not as rare in space as they are when you’re watching from earth, because he figures that making the same wish over and over must become redundant at some point.

 “Is it time I go back home?” He asks softly when Louis closes the door.

He pretends he doesn’t notice the way his voice falters, doesn’t even try to hide it with a cough, and he doesn’t look away when his eyes meet Louis’, even when he knows his disappointment is written all over his face.

“Well,” Louis starts, smiling mischievously, “I was sort of hoping you would want to stay?”

Harry takes a moment to process the words, not even noticing the smile spread on his face until he speaks.

“For how long?”

“It’s up to you, really,” He says, “But I was thinking indefinitely?”

He jumps into Louis’ arms, spinning around excitedly until he starts getting dizzy, then leans against one of the railings trying to catch his breath while Louis starts typing things into his computer.

“Where are we going next, then?” He asks, a huge grin on his face.

“Oh, you’ll see when we get there.”

  
***

 


End file.
